Once more, I welcome you to The Will of Repay! After the prologue, the time has come to enter the first actual chapter of the story. It's been some time since the end of Andromeda Defense War and the 2nd Galactic War. Both galaxies are still licking their wounds, but everything is basically said and done. Still, things need to be done before the actual expedition into Andromeda can actually begin. So let us see, how some people are doing in this current time.
But before that, reviews.
To Supreme Supra: Lesgooo!
Without further ado, let's go!
Chapter 1
January 12, 2169
12:43
Sadera, Royal Palace
Sitting in her office, queen Pina Co Lada was looking at the reports that recently came to her. All of them were straight from Fleet Admiral Tyuule and were telling about the new Border Battles. Over fifty ships destroyed in seven battles…in just three days. Zorzal was really not taking the defeat in his campaign to become a ruler of all mankind easy. And his Erecan allies were surely pushing him to more offensive approach all the time.
Fortunately, Tyuule kept his fleets at bay. Without her, he would probably succeed in his plans long time ago.
"Keep it up, Tyuule. Keep it up."queen whispered.
Next reports were about the state of their ground forces. From all forces that were on Taurus III during the Defense War, their 10th Armored Brigade and Nordian-Skandian Joint Corp were hit the hardest, with the first one losing almost 40% of their personnel, while the latter received nearly 70% losses. Second were Araluenian 'King Duncan' Mechanized Brigade and 'Baron Arald' Battalion, which lost 25% of their manpower. The least losses were sustained by Soutlandish 5th Tank Regiment 'Solo Riders', with just 3% losses. Then, there was a multitude of smaller regiments, battalions and other units that suffered losses, but survived. Fortunately, all these units were already renewed and reinforced with new soldiers and equipment, as they had to be part of their main ground force if worst was to come. Because that they will fight on planets' surfaces, was almost certain.
A knock on the door made her look away from all the reports.
"Come in!"she said.
The door opened and Grey walked in. Seeing him, the queen smiled.
"Your Highness."the commander-in-chief of Falmartian Armed Forces said.
"You still can't get over calling me 'Your Highness'?"
"We're still in a wartime operating routine."general replied, taking a seat."It's kind of requested."
"You didn't seem to worry about that earlier?"
"Times change."
Pina giggled like a little girl.
"That, they do. They really do…"
"How was your time in Geneva?"
Not so long ago, Pina was on Earth, taking part in a special meeting organized by the General Secretary Lucas Mason in Geneva. Except of all Human leaders, leaders of allied alien nations, as well as alien nations not allied with any power in the Milky Way. The goal of that summit was one: to determine the course of action now, that the chaos caused by the 2nd Galactic War died down. And on this summit, she brought forth their current situation, with constant attacks and Border Battles. She gave a charismatic and fiery speech, which leaders from whole galaxy, except the Unknown Regions, listened.
In it, she argued, that as long as Zorzal and Erecans won't be brought to justice for their transgressions, there will be no chance for peace in any galaxy. After all, they were able to somehow ally themselves with Laconia and were partially responsible for what happened during the war three years ago. As she spoke, the leaders listened. She knew, that some will easily understand her arguments, while others might call her a war monger. But she knew what she was saying. She knew she was right.
When she was done, she was not surprised, when General Secretary Mason decided, that what she said must be considered. She knew he would do that.
What Pina didn't expect, was that the GS would issue a vote to be held to decide if Milky Way should help Andromeda Branch in achieving this goal. A short break was called and after that, Pina was approached by Mason. General Secretary, much to her surprise, explained that what Pina said was one of the points of the summit and by speaking up, she basically done it for them.
"So, basically, thanks to me, there was a vote aimed to determine what to do with Zorzal and his benefactors."queen replied.
Grey risen an eyebrow.
"Oh?"he asked."And how did it go?"
Pina took a deep breath.
"100% in favor."
Hearing this, the old general almost fell off of his chair.
"What?"
"My reaction exactly. When the vote was held, there was nobody voting against helping us. I did expect Tertans, Humans, Nashini, Chakdrik and Shakayans to be in favor and honestly, that would be enough. Maybe also Gragonians. But all of Milky Way?"
"That certainly is a surprising development. Even former Concordance nations?"
The Galactic Concordance was formed in the aftermath of the Great Galactic War in 2150s. It was started by Laconian Republic, a now former Human state which following the war was reintegrated into UN's space. It's goals were to challenge the UN-led order and to pull the center of gravity of galactic politics to Laconia. To achieve this goal, it allied itself with Zorzal and Erecan Dominion. The details of that deal were still unknown, but it worked and pushed the Concordance into an open war with UN and it's allies, which they soundly lost, even though they managed to almost completely occupy Earth and took over the Intergalactic Gate in Angier System. But they weren't even able to do that before being forced to surrender.
After the war, Concordance was dissolved and pro-allied governments were set in the place of previous ones, which toppled in the economical crisis that befell them not long after the war. Since then, they were closely working with UNSA and their allies to hunt down war criminals and to get out of the crisis.
"Even they."Pina confirmed."But don't think they will all send entire fleets. Some agreed to send only small contingents or ship squadrons. Still, we'll be getting a lot of ships and soldiers to help in our efforts."
General nodded. Following the Defense War, navies of Andromeda Branch were not in a good shape and when the Border Battles started, all of them were engaged in them, forcing them into defensive positions. AB was receiving replenishment from Milky Way, but while Milky Way was still in shambles, there was no way any offensive operations could be made in Andromeda. Everyone on Flare Prime knew, that even with their powers combined, navies of AB won't be able to challenge the Erecans head-on.
But now, it could change.
"And what is the reason you come to visit me?"queen asked, crossing her arms.
"Simple. Insurgents."Grey replied.
Another problem left after Sons of Sadera. After the Andromeda Defense War, it turned out, that not everyone saw Sons as nothing more than invaders that came to conquer. There were some elements, which actually believed in their statements and supported them. It was expected, of course, but nobody saw what happened next coming.
After the retreat of Sons, there was an increase in attacks on military facilities, government buildings and even civilian establishments. Bomb attacks, shootings, Molotov attacks, you name it. Not long after, a group calling themselves 'Imperial Reestablishment' declared that they are responsible and that their goal is simple: to reestablish Zorzal as the rightful ruler of Sadera. After that, numerous insurgent groups started popping out across the nation, attacking everything in seemingly random order.
Still, everyone knew, that it couldn't be just a random situation. Someone had to instigate it. And it wasn't long before it was confirmed, that some of the SoS intelligence groups, most of which were eradicated by the end of the war, actually managed to disappear and now seemed to spread misinformation and gather support for their groups, ultimately forming the IR and declaring a guerilla warfare on Kingdom of Falmart. A warfare, which continued till this day, as insurgents were really good at hiding and running away after every attack. Not to mention, that they still were recruiting and people were joining them.
"What about them?"Pina asked.
"They struck an ammo depot belonging to 10th Armored Brigade near Alnus."Grey said, giving her the reports he brought with him."Not to mention they tried to take over a police station in Italica and burn a factory in Bargry."
"How did it go?"
"Both attacks stopped. No survivors."
Pina shook her head.
"I can't believe that after all this, there are still people, who are willing to fight and die for the old Empire."
"There are many that think, that these were the glory days. When we were the sole, dominant power of this planet. Honestly, can't blame them."
Queen risen an eyebrow.
"Are you sympathizing with them?"
Grey lifted his hands in a defensive gesture.
"How could I? I'm just saying, that I kinda miss the days when we didn't have all this fancy stuff from Milky Way. It's quite hard to believe nowadays, that just twenty years ago, we didn't even know what a computer is."
Here, Pina Co Lada had to agree with her old mentor. Times were changing fast. Same was with the planet and it's people. When she was a little girl, she would never even think of something as crazy as interstellar travel. And now? She was a leader of one of the most powerful interplanetary states in Andromeda. With it's own off-world colonies and space fleets. And she didn't say it out-loud, but she also missed the old days.
"But these days are gone and became history."she said."And history teaches one thing."
"What?"
She leaned in closer.
"That people like Zorzal need to be neutralized as a threat. No matter how long will it take and how much will it cost."
"I guess you're right."
General stood up.
"Now that I delivered the reports, I gotta go back to the staff. After all, insurgents won't take care of themselves."
"Couldn't you send someone instead of you to bring the reports, then?"
"But then I wouldn't have an opportunity to talk with you."
A grin crept on Pina's face as she watched Grey walk out of the office and close the door. They were friends for so long, that Pina almost forgot how much she owes him. She was truly grateful to him. Especially considering, that he was more of a father figure to her than her actual father.
When he was gone, the queen returned to looking through the documents that were laying on her desk in piles.
January 12
13:57
Dortmund AFB, commander's office
Colonel Ester Barkhorn, veteran of two galaxy-scale wars, officer of European Union Joint Military, one of the most talented pilots of the era, sat in her office, observing as paper after paper piled up on her desk.
"And this…And this…And this…"Captain Elsa Steier, Ester's years long adjutant, slowly placed every paper on the pile before her commander.
"Please…no more…"Ester pleaded.
If there was one thing she hated more in her life than Holy Order, it was paper work. It might have been childish, considering that she was almost in her 40s, but sitting for hours, reading and filling papers was not something she was into. She was a person of action, preferring to act instead of just sit and sign whatever was given to her. Unfortunately, her position didn't really allow her to act a lot, especially in peace time.
"Colonel, all of them are important."Elsa stated, placing the last paper down and crossing her arms."Without them, the base would not receive any supplies, no construction or repairs would be approved and the base would not run properly."
Ester looked up at her adjutant.
"I miss the real you, you know?"she said.
Elsa blinked a few times.
"What?"she asked.
"You know, when you're not a stuck-up, obey-the-rules type. Like you were during the 2nd Galactic War."
"Well, I'm sorry, but in the peace time, I really prefer to be like I am now."Elsa replied with a smile."After all, someone needs to make sure everything is running smoothly, when your commander doesn't like to do paper work, right?"
"Remember who do you owe your promotion…captain."colonel said, pointing her finger at Elsa and her new rank.
Elsa smiled.
"And I am grateful."she said."But then again. Ester, please. It's just a bunch of papers. I'm getting tired of filling them in for you as well."
"But the amount of reading and time needed to understand them. Ughghghgh…"Ester groaned protractedly.
"I thought you like reading?"Elsa tilted her head.
"Fantasy! And political fiction! At least then I can be surprised. Meanwhile, with all these papers, I have to read the exact same thing over and over and over again! It can make someone go mad!"
"It certainly makes me…"
"See? Told you."
"But still…we need to go through it all. Without it, we will have nothing to work with. Remember that it was the paperwork that got us the new Eurofighter Gales…"
Ester couldn't disagree with that. When she learned about the Eurofigher Gales finally leaving the factory lines, she went to work on the papers needed for the base to receive some of them. She spent a whole night filling the papers and making sure she will be one of the first people to fly the machine.
"Okaaaaay, fiiiiiine!"she moaned."Leave them all here. I'll try and do my best to fill them in, alright?"
Elsa nodded, placing the papers down on the desk.
"Good. Meanwhile, I will…"The adjutant blushed.
Ester smirked. She knew well what was going on here.
"Kurt?"she asked.
Elsa grabbed her arm and nodded shyly.
"He asked me on a date today…I couldn't say no, right?"she asked.
Ester nodded. Elsa met Kurt not long after the end of 2nd Galactic War. He was a Marine from EUJMs 11th Marine Brigade, stationed not far from Dortmund. They met during one of the operations against the remains of Laconian military. They talked, saw that there is a lot connecting them and they simply went with the flow. They were dating ever since. Ester was, of course, in full support of it. She even talked to the 11th's commander to have Kurt transferred to the base. It was pretty easy.
"Sure."Ester replied."Go and have fun tonight. But…"
Elsa tensed.
"But…?"she asked.
"But I want a video later."Colonel smiled cheekly.
Elsa's face turned completely red.
"Ester!"she exclaimed, sounding completely embarrassed.
Ester erupted in laughter in response. She loved teasing Elsa like that.
"I'm joking, joking. It's the time just for the two of you."She winked.
"I think miss Suvi's influence is showing…"Elsa said, turning to leave.
When the door closed behind her, Ester quickly grabbed the first paper and the pen. She opened the document, when her eyes landed on the photo standing in the corner of her desk. It was her, Dora and the twins shortly after the 2nd GW as well. On their vacation to Cassiopeia. As promised, Ester didn't let Dora go for the whole trip. This caused the colonel to place a small smile on her face.
But that was a few years ago. Once they were back from the vacation, there was still some work to do. Ester and Dora immediately returned to their main line of work, working hard to eliminate whatever was left from the war with Laconia and Galactic Concordance. Ester as part of the official military and Dora as combat commander of Sharkline, a PMC she was a co-founder of. Sharks and Special Operations Force often worked together on missions. But after the last of Laconian strongpoints were taken care of, SOF was disbanded and everyone was ordered to go back home. So Ester did just that. But Sharkline was not done and Dora was still hard at work, barely coming home. Last time she heard from her, they were hired by Pina to go and help deal with the insurgents.
Meanwhile, the twins were hard at work as well, but of a different kind. As promised, Norrine took them under her wings, teaching them how to better control and use their powers. For that, they've been traveling the Milky Way, helping people and taking care of some problems. Ester wasn't sure about this form of teaching, especially since they were still supposed to go to school…But the girls asked her and Dora to let them go for so long that they just caved in and had to allow them. They still kept in touch though.
Same with the rest of former White Squadron. While they did do some work during the Laconian occupation, they were now hard at work with their own lives. So they had less time to meet and talk like they used to.
"I am getting too old for these changing times…"she thought to herself.
As she sat there, filling the papers, suddenly, she heard the phone ringing. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her smart phone and seeing the name of the caller, she quickly pressed the green button and accepted the call.
"Hello?"she said.
"Yo, Ester. Wassup?"Aquexymeva asked.
Ester giggled.
"Aqi, is that a wording a leader of interstellar power should use?"she asked.
"I am the leader. I can use any language I wanna."Chancellor of Tertan Protectorate replied with a smug in her voice.
"If you say so, heh. So, what do I, a mere boots on the ground, owe the honor to speak with you, miss Chancellor?"
"What, can't I call an old friend when I want to?"Aqi asked and laughed.
"You can. I'm just kidding."Ester laughed as well.
There was an awkward silence between the two of them for a few seconds.
"So. Uncharted Shores was finally approved."the Chancellor finally said.
"That operation deep into Andromeda?"Ester asked.
"Yes."
"Fun."Ester sighed.
She heard the operation being discussed for some time now. Everyone knew what was happening in Andromeda, with all the Border Battles between Andromeda Branch and SoS and their sponsors. Instead of decreasing in intensity, they seemed to escalate more and more. At first, they were just battles between some raiding groups of Corvettes. Then, one side brought Frigates in, so the other did as well. And it continued like that, until Battleships started getting involved. It could escalate even more if nothing would be done about it.
"You seem disappointed."Aquexymeva noticed.
"I'm stuck here, dealing with paperwork, while a future of an entire galaxy is getting decided out there. How do you think I would feel?"Ester replied.
"I understand."There was a moment of silence."Although…"
Ester leaned back in her chair.
"Although…?"she asked.
"What if I told you…that I put in a request?"
"What kind of request?"
Colonel could practically hear the smug on her friend's face.
"A request to reform the Special Operations Force."
This almost made Ester stand up from her seat.
"You did?!"she exclaimed.
"Yes. The official reason was that the SOF did spectacular job in 2nd Galactic War and because of that, it would be very useful in the upcoming operation in unknown area. I mean, we don't know basically nothing about Andromeda beyond these few systems Andromeda Branch is getting ready for colonization. So, SOF could act as a scout force, as well as special operations unit, checking out the area. And of course, I had to specify who is supposed to be in charge."
Ester felt a smile growing on her face.
"Aqi, you have no idea how grateful I am."Ester laughed awkwardly."I need to have a talk with Elsa first."
"You'll get through it."Another pause."One more thing…"
"Yeah?"
"I want you to reform the White Squadron."
Ester blinked.
"You…what?"she asked.
"Is something wrong?"Chancellor asked.
"No, no, it's just…Most of them have normal lives by now…and are busy, especially after the last war…They must be tired of fighting. I don't blame them."Colonel looked at the family photo.
"I know. But at least I want you to try. I don't wanna go to war without my old teammates."
Ester thought she misheard.
"What did you say?"she asked.
"You heard me right. I'm not sitting this one out. I will be in charge of Tertan forces involved in Uncharted Shores. Personally."Aqi said firmly.
"You know this is crazy, right?"
"Aren't we all crazy?"
"Fair one."
"If it's as you say and nobody will come, then I won't blame them. It's their choice, we can't twist their arms into coming."
"Good that you understand. Unless it's some of your Black Caste attempt at humor…"
"What would be wrong with that?"
"All the jokes you cracked sucked."
"And I learn about it only after nearly two decades?"
"Yes."
The Tertan erupted in some of the most genuine laughter Ester ever heard from her.
"Es, this is why I love you."
"I'm married."
"You know what I mean."
"I do."
"You little…"Aqi shook her head."Okay, I have to end for now. See ya."
"Bye."
The call ended. Ester looked at the screen for a few seconds, before hiding it. After that, she turned on her hand terminal. She made a call and after a few seconds, Elsa's face appeared on the screen.
"What is it?"she asked.
"Elsa…"Ester smiled."…we're getting the gang back together."
January 12
16:04
Facility No.1, Secure Valley, Falmart, Flare Prime
"Ugh!"Decimus Sedvis groaned, falling to the ground.
The guard that punched him smiled.
"Not so tough now, huh?"he asked and his two companions asked.
"Fuck off!"Jeos exclaimed.
He received a punch from other guard.
"Shut your fucking hole, you Zorzalite fuck."he said."You have no rights to speak here."
Aulus spat at him, but got kicked in the shins for it.
Decimus slowly rose up from the ground. It's been three years. Three years since he got placed in a Facility No.1, a prison complex under the Secure Valley, one of the most important Falmartian military bases. Three years of being treated like shit by the guards because of what his father did years before: taking him to join Zorzal in his 'crusade for justice'. But he endured. And he would endure, no matter what.
"You guys really suck at beating people up…"Decimus said.
"You shit…"the guard hissed.
He then kicked the former tank commander in the gut. This time, however, Decimus didn't fall to the ground. Instead, he lunged at the guard, taking him off guard. The two fell to the floor and Decimus tried to push his thumbs into the guard's eyes, but he managed to stop him from it. He then headbutted him, but that didn't stop Decimus from struggling with him, even as his brow opened and a stream of blood poured out. Then, he simply started punching the guard in the face. One of the two other guards let go of Aulus and tried to pull him away, but didn't realize the mistake he made when Aulus grabbed him and locked him in a grip with an arm on his throat. He pulled him away.
Decimus continued to punch the guard for nobody knew how long. He just had to unload all that anger. He didn't even stop when guard's teeth started flying out.
"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"someone shouted, his scream echoing through the corridor.
All six of them stopped doing what they were doing and looked towards the entrance to the corridor and saw the commander of the shift with two other, armed guards standing there. They pointed their weapons at Decimus, Aulus and Jeos, ready to pull the triggers at any time if the three tried anything.
The warden came up to them. The guards harassing Decimus, Aulus and Jeos stood up and saluted. Even the one that got his face messed up. The warden looked at the two groups and growled.
"Now you're gonna explain me what exactly went down."he said in an angry tone.
18:07
Decimus' cell
Two hours later, Decimus was laying on his bunk, massaging his hurting chest. Unfortunately, the warden turned out to be pretty one-sided and didn't believe a word he and his friends were saying. As punishment and 'attack on an officer', they were given a quick shower.
With a hose.
In front of everyone else.
Naked.
Decimus still remembered everyone's laughs. Just another humiliation he had to agree with in here. He sighed.
"Fuck me…"he thought.
Spending three years in a POW camp was never going to be easy, he knew that. He just took everything they threw at him with open arms, like his father taught him. So he did. Every beating, every humiliation, every day. Normally, he would just end it all and not care about what everyone would say. Committing suicide would be like showing last middle finger to this place, which tried to break him.
But there was one thing that kept him going.
"Prisoner S-3264!"a guard said from behind the door."Post!"
He slid a small opening open and threw a letter inside. Decimus stood up from the bunk and approached it as it fell to the ground. He picked it up. The envelope was open, as always. Guards had the right to check people's post in case it had something that was supposed to help them escape. As if anyone would try that. Looking at the front of the envelope, he smiled, as always, when he saw the sender's name on it.
Niva Fegran-Sedvis.
It's been nearly a year since his sister got married to her commander/boyfriend, lieutenant colonel Verius Fegran. For some reason, Decimus had mixed feelings about this, but he could not have anything against his sister being happy. He pulled out the letter from the envelope and started reading:
Dear Decimus.
I hope you're doing well. I know that i your situation, this sounds cruel, but I really hope everything's alright with you. On my end, I'm doing fine. I'm really sorry we couldn't see each other more often these past year, but I was really busy. First, we had to deal with all post-wedding things and regulate it all. Once more, I'm sorry you couldn't be on my wedding. I tried to convince the facility's warden to let you go, but he just wouldn't agree.
Decimus nodded. She mentioned it earlier, but he didn't hold it against her. Sometimes he thought, that Falmart placed only the most scummy people to run this POW camp. He read on:
Next, we had to oversee the rebuilding of 10th Armored Brigade. We've been training new tank crews and Verius have also been helping colonel Rad, since he's his deputy now. The rebuilding of the unit is going well and in a few weeks, we expect it to be on the same power level as it was before Taurus. Also, there is one thing I wanted to mention to you regarding this exact matter.
Colonel Rad came up with an idea. He decided, that all the SoS soldiers, especially the non-clone ones, shouldn't be left to waste in prison cells.
Former tank commander blinked a few times, trying to figure out if he imagined it. Nope. He read on:
So, he decided that people like you and your friends would be used to strengthen the allied units. Command didn't want to agree with it at first, so they finally decided on a compromise. SoS POWs are to be formed into penal units. Each would be attached to an already existing unit to make sure they won't do anything stupid. I asked Verius to pull some strings…and made sure, that you will be assigned to us. You will be assigned to Penal Company T-3, under Royal Alnus Armored Combat Battalion. I wish I could do more, really…
I hope we can see each other again soon, so we could talk about it more thoroughly. For now, goodbye, brother.
Your loving sister,
Niva
Decimus held the letter for a few more seconds, before returning to his bunk and sitting down, to put all the thoughts in order. Penal units. From all things he expected, this was the last one. Now he would have break these news to Jeos and Aulus.
But on the other hand, he realized one thing. He would be out of here. Not only will he be out of here, he was also going to be in the same unit Niva is in. Not only will he finally leave this place, but he will also be close to his sister. Even if at the price of basically being a cannon fodder. He knew how penal units operated in SoS, so he wouldn't be surprised if they operated similar way in RFAF. But maybe…just maybe…it wouldn't be that bad?
The thoughts about his sister completely won in his head. He put down the letter on the table, alongside others he received through the years. He always liked to return to them to remember about things Niva told him about. Now, as he laid there, lost in thought, a smile appeared on his lips. Not only because he could be with his sister again.
Maybe there was still hope for them to redeem themselves?
XXX
And this is the end of chapter 1. As always, feel free to leave a review, follow and favorite. It will be highly appreciated!
Goodbye for now!